


A Christmas Painting

by manwithaminivan



Category: Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/F, First Kiss, Painting has a way of revealing secrets, they're in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:27:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27833767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manwithaminivan/pseuds/manwithaminivan
Summary: Janis is alone on Christmas, Regina isn't a fan of that.(or Janis is crushing on Regina and a Christmas miracle happens)
Relationships: Regina George/Janis Sarkisian
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	A Christmas Painting

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey! Chrismtas is my favorite time of the year and I'm not ashamed to admit it. So, I'll be posting a bit.  
> Enjoy Janis being a simp and Regina being as smooth as can be.
> 
> tw // small suicide joke

It’s 10 AM on Christmas morning and Janis Sarkisian is sitting alone watching the snowfall outside. It’s 10 AM and her mother is working at the hospital, the only thing left behind from her a small note with ‘We’ll open presents tomorrow. Love you.’ written in pretty lettering and stuck to the fridge.

She sighs, tapping her fingers on the windowsill. Normally she’d spend the day with Damian, but this year his family decided to go visit his other family in California. She protested stating “Who the hell goes to California for Christmas?” But she wasn’t going to change his mind.

So here she was. ‘It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ played on her phone in the background as the snow picked up a bit. It was peaceful, calming. It almost made her forget about the emptiness of the house, the overwhelming need to have someone here with her. 

She stood from the couch and grabbed her phone, making her way to the basement, flipping on the light. Unfinished and finished canvases laid on the ground, some stacked in holders. She huffed, running a hand through her hair. She’d been in a rut for a few days, unable to get anything permanent on a canvas. 

Normally she’d get someone to come over and model, maybe go on a walk. But now that it’s getting colder and most of her friends were busy with their families… she was stuck. She pulled a blank canvas out and set up her easel. She set everything up in the way she normally did, a sort of disorganized mess, and stood in front of it.

It’s a simple task, at least it usually was. But currently, all her mind could dwell on was the fact that she was spending Christmas alone in a basement. 

The song switched to ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ and she picked up a brush, willing herself to do something… anything!

She describes painting as follows:  _ A stupid thing I picked up to not kill myself. _

Though as the years went on she found a deep reliance on painting. It was a way to get her inner thoughts out when she may have refused to say them out loud. She’d painted many pieces throughout the years, getting into and winning art competitions, impressing judges from all over.

Yet she found her best work came from quiet mornings and nights alone with her thoughts. Pouring it all out onto a canvas while her mind goes blank a moment, going on almost autopilot as her brush glides along with the canvas.

By the time she pulls away to fully look at it her sleeves are covered with paint splotches, she chuckles at it before fully focusing on the painting.

It’s a mix of pinks, lines thrown here and there, circles thrown in, random shapes that seem to complement the main centerpiece. A very familiar girl, Janis decides. The way her blonde hair falls loosely over her shoulders, blue eyes practically piercing Janis’s soul, though it’s only just a painting.

It’s in moments like these she decides she regrets painting and the way it worked wonders at drawing out her inner feelings. Because the truth of the matter is that right there is Regina George, the girl she never really stopped crushing on.

She sets her brush in the water and huffs, continuing to stare at the canvas as though the blonde would disappear and stop haunting her mind. But of course, nothing happens and she’s left with the painted version of her crush staring at her.

The doorbell ringing draws her out of her trance, she turns off the music and looks up the basement stairs, wondering if she’s imagining things. But then it comes again and she feels some nervousness pool inside of her, no one was supposed to be over.

She walks up the stairs carefully, going to the front door and peeking out the window. 

Her mouth drops open slightly as she pulls away from the window. She’s never been one to stun easy but the girl she had just painted is standing on her patio with a small box in hand.  _ Open the door! She’s gonna freeze.  _ Her brain screams at her and she nods ever so slightly, straightening her posture before opening the door.

Regina looks amazing, which isn’t surprising. The blonde always had a way of somehow looking perfect every moment of the day. She was in a pink jacket and light jeans, a smile on her face when she saw Janis.

“Regina! Wow, um… Come in!”

“Thanks, it’s freezing out here.”

She moves out of her way, allowing Regina inside, and closes the door behind them. Regina slips off her jacket and hangs it on the coat rack, sighing softly. 

“What are you…” Her voice trails off, confused at the sudden appearance.

“It’s just- Well, Damian said you were spending Christmas alone this year and I couldn’t have that, could I? So, here.” 

She shoved the box toward Janis and she took it gratefully, motioning for them to go into the kitchen.

Regina obliged and they both walked to the island bar, sitting on the barstools. “You didn’t have to get me a gift. I feel bad, I didn’t even get you anything.”

The blonde gave her a soft smile and Janis felt her heart pick up. Her eyes fluttered down to the girl’s lips a moment before returning back up and then to the gift in her hands. “It’s okay, Jan! It’s Christmas, the day of giving.”

“Right… okay.”

She carefully unwrapped the box, not wanting to damage the perfect wrapping job most likely done by little miss perfect herself. She slides out the bottom part of the small box, smiling when she saw what was inside.

“A Micheals giftcard. Thanks.”

“I wasn’t too sure what to get you, so uh, I just decided you can never go wrong with a gift card.”

She nodded, setting it back in the box, and on the counter, they sat it. “It means a lot, really.”

Regina’s eyes darted down to her sleeves and she raised an eyebrow slightly, “Were you painting when I showed up?”

Janis hummed in acknowledgment, “Oh yeah, don’t worry about it.”

Regina’s eyes widen slightly and her smile grew wider, as they always did when she was excited. 

Janis had noticed ever since Spring Fling Regina has shed the ice queen exterior she kept for so long. She was practically back to being 8th grade Regina. The girl she spent hours talking to, the first girl she had a crush on. And maybe that’s why the feelings showed up again (not like they were ever really gone, just shoved deep down.) But she knew it was foolish, chasing after someone she had so much history with.

“You’ve got to show me!”

At that her heart dropped slightly, her mouth going dry. How the hell is she supposed to explain away the very accurate depiction of her sitting on the easel right now? “Um, did I say I was painting? No… no, I meant… fainting! Yeah, low iron and all.”

Regina laughed and stood from the bar, making her way to the basement door. Janis quickly caught on and tried to stop her by reaching out to take her wrist but it was far too late, the blonde was making her way down the stairs, Janis on her tail.

“It’s nothing interesting! Just a nature scene!”

A futile lie, she knew, but desperate times call for a desperate plea of nature scenes. Regina laughed once more and turned, staring dead at the canvas on the easel. Janis’s breath stopped, catching up with her. “Listen, I can explain.”

“Janis Sarkisian! Is this me?”

She had two options. Lie and pretend it’s some other girl, maybe she could play it off as Karen… or tell the truth, and possibly face rejection. 

“Depends.”

“Depends on what?”

“On if you like it.”

A joke. That’s the best way out of anything, she could joke her way out of jail but somehow this felt worse than the possibility of incarceration. She tried to laugh but it came out weak, almost like a small cry for help.

“Of course, I like it, silly. You made me stunning.”

She scoffed, smiling softly, “I didn’t make you stunning, you already are.”

Regina looked away from the painting, staring her dead in the eyes. Just as the painting had done earlier. Though now the real blue eyes were piercing her soul, and it had the same effect. 

If she hadn’t had so much practice controlling her nerves she’d have melted into a stuttering mess right now, tripping over words and such. But instead, she was fidgeting with the hem of her sweatshirt, feeling uneasy.

“You flatter me.”

A silence came and Janis felt as though she overstepped like Regina was secretly planning a way out because she thought Janis was some freak who has multiple paintings of her.

“It’s missing something.”

The sentence came out of nowhere, startling Janis slightly. She tilted her head a bit, confused. “Missing what?”

Regina pointed toward a brush, “May I?”

Hesitantly Janis nodded, watching as the girl grabbed some green paint and a brush and began to add something. The longer it went on the more nervous she became, Regina added a few leaf-shaped things, then a red circle connecting them. Finally, she drew a thin line from the top of the canvas to where the red circle laid.

Almost as if her brain finally updated she caught on and immediately she felt her face flush red. “Did you just put mistletoe on my painting?” The actuality of saying it out loud felt weird, and she was confused about what it meant.

“I did. And you know what they say…”

“I believe that’s if both people are under the mistletoe.”

“Oh, so you don’t want to kiss me?”

That was it. She’s sure she collapsed to the ground right there. The Heavens must have opened up and she was dead, there was no way this was happening. Her heart has never beat this fast. 

When she came back to reality to find herself very much alive, she swallowed hard, looking up to find Regina staring exactly at her.

“Of course I want to kiss you.”

Regina smiled, “Then do it.”

Christmas means a lot of things. It’s a time of giving, a time of celebration, a time for family. But none of that ever really meant much to Janis. However, now Christmas has taken on a new meaning. It will forever be marked as the day she had her first kiss with Regina George and suddenly she doesn’t feel as bad for not giving Regina a gift, feeling as though this was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, Christmas, gotta love it.  
> As always kudos and comments are appreciated!  
> Requests are open :)
> 
> tumblr: manwithaminivan
> 
> Remember to take care of yourselves, ya'll. You each deserve the world.


End file.
